With plays dating all the way back to ancient Greece, Bedford Introduction to Drama teaches you to think critically about drama while learning about the history, theater design, staging, and acting style for each era of the theater.
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With plays dating all the way back to ancient Greece, Bedford Introduction to Drama teaches you to think critically about drama while learning about the history, theater design, staging, and acting style for each era of the theater.
*New to this Edition
CONTENTS
Preface for Instructors
INTRODUCTION: THINKING ABOUT DRAMA
What Is Drama?
Drama and Ritual
Drama: The Illusion of Reality
Seeing a Play Onstage
Theaters and Their Effect
Reading a Play
The Great Ages of Drama
Egyptian Drama
Greek Drama
Roman Drama
Medieval Drama
Renaissance Drama
Late-Seventeenth – and Eighteenth-Century Drama
Drama from the Nineteenth Century through the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Drama in the Early and Mid-Twentieth Century
Contemporary Drama
Genres of Drama
Tragedy
Comedy
Tragicomedy
Analyzing a Play through the Elements of Drama: Lady Gregory’s The Rising of the Moon
Plot
Characterization
Setting
Dialogue
Music
Movement
Theme
Lady Gregory, The Rising of the Moon
GREEK DRAMA
The Development of Greek Drama
The Greeks and Their Gods
The Greek Stage
The Greek Actor
Genres of Greek Drama
Tragedy
Satyr Plays
Comedy
The Great Age of Greek Drama
Greek Drama Timeline
Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Agamemnon in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Lois Spatz, Oresteia: Trilogy Preserved
Sophocles, Oedipus Rex
Oedipus Rex in Performance
COMMENTARIES:
Aristotle, Poetics: Comedy and Epic and Tragedy
Sigmund Freud, The Oedipus Complex
Sophocles, Antigone
Antigone in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Oliver Taplin, Emotion and Meaning in Greek Tragedy
*Euripides, Medea
Medea in Performance
Aristophanes, Lysistrata
Lysistrata in Performance
ROMAN DRAMA
Indigenous Sources
The Roman Stage
The Roman Actor
Roman Drama Timeline
Roman Dramatists
Plautus, Excerpt from The Twin Menaechmi (Act III)
Terence, Excerpt from The Brothers (Act V)
Seneca, Excerpt from Thyestes (Act V, Scene ii)
MEDIEVAL DRAMA
The Role of the Church
Miracle Plays
Mystery Plays
Morality Plays
Japanese Drama
The Medieval Stage
The Medieval Actor
Medieval Drama Timeline
Hrosvitha, Dulcitius
Dulcitius in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Sue-Ellen Case, Re-viewing Hrotsvit
The Wakefield Master, The Second Shepherds' Pageant
The Second Shepherds' Pageant in Performance
Anonymous, Everyman
Everyman in Performance
RENAISSANCE DRAMA
The Italian Theater
Commedia dell’Arte
Elizabethan Drama
The Elizabethan Theater
The Elizabethan Actor
The Elizabethan Audience
Female Characters on the English Stage
The Masque
Spanish Drama
Renaissance Drama Timeline
Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus
Doctor Faustus in Performance
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Linda Bamber, On a Midsummer Night’s Dream
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Hamlet in Performance
COMMENTARY:
A.C. Bradley, Hamlet’s Melancholy
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life’s a Dream
Life’s a Dream in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Ed Morales, Review of Jose Rivera’s Production of Sueño
LATE-SEVENTEENTH- AND EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY DRAMA
Theater on the Continent: Neoclassicm
French Tragedy
French Comedy: Molière
Theater in England: The Restoration
Eighteenth-Century Drama
The Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Actor
Drama in Japan
Late-Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Drama Timeline
Molière, Tartuffe
Tartuffe in Performance
Aphra Behn, The Rover, or The Banished Cavaliers
The Rover, or The Banished Cavaliers in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Elaine Hobby, Courtship and Marriage in The Rover
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
The Love Suicides at Sonezaki in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Donald H. Shively, The Development of Theater Buildings
*Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Rivals
The Rivals in Performance
NINETEENTH CENTURY THROUGH THE TURN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
The Nineteenth-Century Theater
The Nineteenth-Century Actor
The Astor Place Riot
Romantic Drama
Melodrama
The Well-Made Play
The Rise of Realism
Nineteenth-Century Drama Timeline
Henrik Ibsen, A Doll House
A Doll House in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Henrik Ibsen, Notes for the Modern Tragedy
August Strindberg, Miss Julie
Miss Julie in Performance
COMMENTARY:
August Strindberg, From the Preface to Miss Julie
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest in Performance
Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Peter Brook, On Chekhov
*Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion
Pygmalion in Performance
COMMENTARIES:
*Bernard Shaw, from the Preface to Pygmalion
*Michael Holroyd, The History of Pygmalion
A Cultural Casebook: The “Woman Question” in the Late Nineteenth Century
John Stuart Mill, On the Subjection of Women
August Strindberg, The Woman Question: Women’s Rights
Johan Thorsten Sellin, Marriage and Divorce in Sweden
Richard Panofsky, A Nineteenth-Century Husband’s Letter to His Wife
Helen Watterson Moody, What It Means to Be a Wife
*Shani D’Cruze, Women and the Family
*Helene E. Roberts, The Fallen Woman
DRAMA IN THE EARLY AND MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY
The Heritage of Realism
Realism and Myth
Myth and Culture
Poetic Realism
Social Realism
Realism and Expressionism
Antirealism
Epic Theater
Absurdist Drama
The Early- and Mid-Twentieth-Century Stage
The Early- and Mid-Twentieth-Century Actor
Early – and Mid-Twentieth-Century Drama Timeline
John Millington Synge, Riders to the Sea
Riders to the Sea in Performance
COMMENTARY:
John Millington Synge, From The Aran Islands
Susan Glaspell, Trifles
Trifles in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Christine Dymkowski, On the Edge: The Plays of Susan Glaspell
Luigi Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six Characters in Search of an Author in Performance
*Federico Garcia Lorca, Blood Wedding
Blood Wedding in Performance
Eugene O'Neill, Desire under the Elms
Desire under the Elms in Performance
*Bertolt Brecht, The Good Woman of Setzuan
The Good Woman of Setzuan in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Bertolt Brecht, The Alienation Effect
Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Brenda Murphy, Tennessee Williams and Elia Kazan Collaborate on Cat
Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Arthur Miller, Tragedy and the Common Man
A Production Casebook: Death of a Salesman
Jo Mielziner, Designing a Play: Death of a Salesman
Elia Kazan, Directing Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller, From “The American Theater”
June Schlueter and James K. Flanagan, Memorable Willy
*Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Martin Esslin, The Theatre of the Absurd
Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun in Performance
COMMENTARY:
*Lindsay Champion, The Evolution of A Raisin in the Sun
Wole Soyinka, The Strong Breed
The Strong Breed in Performance
CONTEMPORARY DRAMA
Experimentation
Theater of Cruelty
Environmental Theater
“Poor Theater”
Theater of Images
Gay and Lesbian Theater and Other New Ensembles
Contemporary Women Playwrights
Experimentation with the Tradition
Drama in the United States
Drama in Europe: England, Ireland, and France
Drama in Asia and Africa
The Contemporary Theater
The Contemporary Actor
Contemporary Drama Timeline
Harold Pinter, The Homecoming
The Homecoming in Performance
Maria Irene Fornes, Fefu and Her Friends
Fefu and Her Friends in Performance
*Sam Shepard, True West
True West in Performance
Caryl Churchill, Cloud Nine
Cloud Nine in Performance
*David Mamet, American Buffalo
American Buffalo in Performance
Athol Fugard, “MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys
“MASTER HAROLD” . . . and the boys in Performance
August Wilson, Fences
Fences in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Joan Herrington, The Development of Fences
*August Wilson, The Ground on Which I Stand
Tony Kushner, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches
Angels in America in Performance
Paula Vogel, How I Learned to Drive
How I Learned to Drive in Performance
Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog
Topdog/Underdog in Performance
Sarah Ruhl, Eurydice
Eurydice in Performance
Lynn Nottage, Ruined
Ruined in Performance
COMMENTARY:
Randy Gener, In Defense of Ruined: Five Elements that Shape
Lynn Nottage’s Masterwork
*Quiara Alegría Hudes, Water by the Spoonful
Water by the Spoonful in Performance
*Ayad Akhtar, Disgraced
Disgraced in Performance
*Christopher Durang, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike in Performance
*John Patrick Shanley, Outside Mullingar
Outside Mullingar in Performance
*Stephen Karam, The Humans
The Humans in Performance
Writing About Drama
Writing Criticism about Drama
Approaches to Criticism
Reader Response Criticism
Close Reading
From Prewriting to Final Draft: A Sample Student Essay on The Rising of the Moon
Writing a Review
What is the Purpose of a Review?
What You Need to Write a Good Review
Preparing to Review a Classic Play
Preparing to Review a New Play
Guidelines for Writing Reviews
*Using Video Resources When Thinking and Writing about Drama
Glossary of Dramatic Terms
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